STAN GETZ: FORGOTTEN BEBOP TENOR SAXOPHONIST BY MARCUS HARLOWE WOLFE B.M., University of North Texas, 1999 M.M., University of North Texas 2002 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Music in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009 Urbana, Illinois © 2009 by Marcus Harlowe Wolfe. All Rights Reserved. ABSTRACT Within the discussion of bebop being an evolution vs. a revolution, Stan Getz’s contributions as a tenor saxophonist have been underappreciated. In 1951, Getz demonstrated an improvisational vocabulary that was a fusion of his swing era style, inspired by the melodic conception of Lester Young, and the harmonic improvisations of Charlie Parker. The objective of this project is to establish Getz as a primary disseminator of the bebop style on the tenor saxophone by documenting his improvisational vocabulary specific to the era, and comparing it to recordings of his contemporaries. A secondary goal will be to support the evolutionary argument by showing that his vocabulary was itself a product of the evolutionary process. The solos, selected from recordings made in 1950 and 1951, are evaluated concerning harmony, melody, rhythm, and macro-level solo construction. With two exceptions, the transcriptions selected for this project were from the Storyville Sessions recorded October 28, 1951 in Boston. They include “Mosquito Knees”, “Move”, “Parker 51”, “Pennies from Heaven”, “Signal”, and “Wildwood”. “Split Kick” was recorded December 10, 1950 and “Yvette” was recorded August 15, 1951 in New York. All are available on the boxed set Stan Getz: the Complete Roost Recordings. The transcriptions are notated in the key of Bb, as they sound on the tenor sax, so they can be observed relative to the instrument. From these transcriptions, analysis was conducted to provide data for the chapters relative to harmony, melody, rhythm, and macro level solo construction. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ……………………………………………………………vi INTRODUCTION Background ….…………………………………………………………………………….1 Evolution …………………………………………………………………………………..4 Other Tenor Saxophonists ………………………………………………………………....8 Biographical Sketch of Stan Getz …………………………………………………………13 The Recordings ……………………………………………………………………………19 CHAPTER 1: HARMONY IN THE IMPROVISED SOLOS OF STAN GETZ 1950-1951 Background …………………………………………………………………………....…..20 Enclosures...………………………………………………………………………………..20 Bebop Scales ………………………………………………………………………………25 Chromatic Approach Tones ……………………………………………………………….27 Chromatic Neighbor Tones ………………………………………………………………..28 Leading Tone Diminished …………………………………………………………………29 Harmonic Generalization/ Substitution ……………………………………………………30 Tritone Substitution ………………………………………………………………………..31 Side Slipping ………………………………………………………………………………33 Harmonic Superimposition ……………………………………………………………...…34 “Lady Bird” Turnaround …………………………………………………………………..35 “Honeysuckle Rose” Motive ………………………………………………………………36 CHAPTER 2: MELODY IN THE IMPROVISED SOLOS OF STAN GETZ 1950-1951 Background ……………………………………………………………………………..…39 Melodic Structure ……………………………………………………………………… …39 Question - Answer …………………………………………………………………..…40 Call and Response …………………………………………………………………..…41 Tension and Release …………………………………………………………………...42 Step Melody ……………………………………………………………………………….43 Melodic Sequence …………………………………………………………………………44 Melodic Quotation ……………………………………………………………………...…45 Quotations of Charlie Parker’s Solos ……………………………………………………...49 iv CHAPTER 3: RHYTHM IN THE IMPROVISED SOLOS OF STAN GETZ 1950-1951 Background ………………………………………………………………………………..52 Swing Feel ……………………………………………………………………………...…52 Hemiola, Over-The Barline, and Polyrhythmic Phrasing …………………………………54 Rhythmic Instability ………………………………………………………………….……56 Larger Scale Rhythmic Instability and Stability: Avoiding One …………………….……58 CHAPTER 4: MACRO-LEVEL CONSTRUCTIVE ELEMENTS Motivic and Episodic …………………………………………………………………..….59 CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………………………………....64 DISCOGRAPHY 1943-1951 ………………………………………………………………….67 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………..87 APPENDIX A: OUTLINE OF ELEMENTS SPECIFIC TO BEBOP ……………………….91 APPENDIX B: “PENNIES FROM HEAVEN” WITH ANNOTATIONS ..…………………92 APPENDIX C: COMPLETE SOLO TRANSCRIPTIONS MOSQUITO KNEES …………………………………………………………………...…95 MOVE …………………………………………………………………………………..…99 PARKER 51 ……………………………………………………………………………….103 PENNIES FROM HEAVEN ……………………………………………………………...108 SIGNAL …………………………………………………………………………………...113 SPLIT KICK ………………………………………………………………………………117 WILDWOOD ……………………………………………………………………………...119 YVETTE ………………………………………………………………………………..…122 v LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES CHAPTER 1: HARMONY IN THE IMPROVISED SOLOS OF STAN GETZ 1950-1951 Example 1.1 Enclosure from ½ step above and below the major third in “Parker 51”…21 Example 1.2 Whole step above and ½ below the root in “Mosquito Knees”…21 Example 1.3 Whole step above and below the minor third in “Parker 51”…22 Example 1.4 Enclosing the 9th in “Parker 51”…22 Example 1.5a Larger interval enclosure in “Parker 51”…23 Example 1.5b Elongated Enclosure…23 Example 1.6 Compound enclosure in “Yvette” with illustration …23 Example 1.7 Compound enclosures in “Parker 51”…24 Example 1.8 Table of sub-structural enclosure detail in example 1.7…24 Example 1.9 Enclosures in a longer phrase from “Mosquito Knees” …24 Example 1.10 Bebop scale on a dominant seventh chord in “Parker 51”...25 Example 1.11 Bebop scale on dominant and minor chords in “Move”…25 Example 1.12 Bebop Lick in “Wildwood” …26 Example 1.13 Approach tone melodies initiated on the downbeats in “Signal”…27 Example 1.14 Approach tone melodies resolving to downbeats in “Move”…28 Example 1.15 Alternating between downbeats and upbeats in “Move”…28 Example 1.16 Approach tone voice leading in “Pennies from Heaven” …28 Example 1.17 Chromatic neighbor tones in “Wildwood”…29 Example 1.18 Leading tone diminished substitution in “Move” ms. 28-29…29 Example 1.19 P51.14-15 Leading tone diminished in “Parker 51” ms 14-15 …30 Example 1.20 ½-Whole Diminished Harmonic Generalization in “Mosquito Knees” m. 106-110 …31 Example 1.21 Tritone substitution in “Move” ms. 119-121 …32 Example 1.22 Tritone substitution in “Signal”…32 Example 1.23 Tritone substitution in “Parker 51”…33 Example 1.24 Side Slipping in “Mosquito Knees”…33 Example 1.25 Side Slipping in “Yvette’ … 34 Example 1.26 Harmonic Superimposition in “Move”…34 Example 1.27 Harmonic superimposition in “Parker 51”…34 Example 1.28 Harmonic superimposition in “Move” …35 Example 1.29 Turnaround from “Lady Bird”…35 Example 1.30 Substitution of the “Lady Bird” turnaround in “Move”…36 Example 1.31 “Honeysuckle Rose”…36 Example 1.32 “Honeysuckle Rose” motive in “Parker 51”…37 Example 1.33 “Honeysuckle Rose” motive on altered dominant and major tonality in “Signal”…37 Example 1.34 “Honeysuckle Rose” motive from #9, b13, root position in “Move”…38 Example 1.35 “Honeysuckle Rose” motive from #9, 13 and root position in “Move”…38 vi CHAPTER 2: MELODY IN THE IMPROVISED SOLOS OF STAN GETZ 1950-1951 Example 2.1 Question and answer in “Pennies from Heaven”…40 Example 2.2 Anticipatory answer technique in “Pennies from Heaven”…40 Example 2.3 Compound question-answer phrase in “Pennies from Heaven”…41 Example 2.4 Call and response in “Pennies from Heaven”…42 Example 2.5 Call and response in “Pennies from Heaven” …42 Example 2.6 Tension and release in “Pennies from Heaven”…42 Example 2.7 Tension and release in “Pennies from Heaven”…42 Example 2.8 Chromatically descending step melody in “Mosquito Knees”…43 Example 2.9 Diatonically descending step melody in “Wildwood”…43 Example 2.10 Chromatically ascending step melody in “Move”…43 Example 2.11 Extended step melody, generally descending, in “Mosquito Knees”…44 Example 2.12 Melodic Sequence in “Pennies from Heaven”…44 Example 2.13 Melodic Sequence in “Parker 51”…44 Example 2.14 Melodic Sequence in “Parker 51”…45 Example 2.15 Melodic Sequence in “Move”…45 Example 2.16 Opening melody in Dvorak’s “Humoresque”…46 Example 2.17 Quotation of “Humoresque” in “Move” ms. 11-12…46 Example 2.18 Quotation of “Humoresque” in “Parker 51” ms. 43-44…46 Example 2.19 Quotation of “Humoresque” in “Parker 51” ms. 107-108…47 Example 2.20 Quotation of “Humoresque” in “Parker 51” ms. 171-172…47 Example 2.21 Melody from “Turkey in the Straw”…47 Example 2.22 “Turkey in the Straw” quotation in “Mosquito Knees”…47 Example 2.23 Melody from “Fascinating Rhythm”…48 Example 2.24 Quotation of “Fascinating Rhythm” melody in “Pennies from Heaven”…48 Example 2.25 Melody from “It Could Happen to You”…48 Example 2.26 Quotation of “It Could Happen to You” melody in “Pennies from Heaven”…48 Example 2.27 Melody to “What Am I Here For”…49 Example 2.28 Quotation of “What Am I Here For” in “Pennies from Heaven”...49 Example 2.29 Excerpt A, from Charlie Parker’s solo on “Ko Ko”...50 Example 2.30 Quotation of example 2.22 in “Parker 51”…50 Example 2.31 Quotation of example 2.22 in “Parker 51”…50 Example 2.32 Quotation of example 2.22 in “Mosquito Knees”…50 Example 2.33 Excerpt B, from Charlie Parker’s solo on “Ko Ko”…50 Example 2.34 Quotation of example 2.26 in “Parker 51”…51 Example 2.35 Excerpt C, from Charlie Parker’s solo on “Ko Ko”…51 Example 2.36 Quotation of example 2.28 in “Signal”…51 vii CHAPTER 3: RHYTHM IN THE IMPROVISED SOLOS OF STAN GETZ 1950-1951 Example 3.1 Typical bebop articulation in “Move”…53 Example 3.2 Articulation with a hemiola accent pattern “Move”…53 Example 3.3 3/4 hemiola in “Parker 51”…55 Example 3.4 3/8 hemiola in “Mosquito Knees”…55